Cabinet approves National IPR Policy

New Delhi : The Union Cabinet has approved the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy that will lay the future roadmap for intellectual property in India.

Briefing the media here, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said capacity building within the government is one of the objects of this policy.

"There was an expert group set up by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.This group after a lot of sittings and public consultation had prepared a draft document and submitted its recommendations to the government which in turn was examined by the Group of Secretaries of the Government of India because IPR was actually cutting across various ministries and finally the final draft was placed before the Cabinet yesterday and the Cabinet granted an approval to the IPR Policy," he said.

Asserting that a trademark law is in place, Jaitley said it deals with commercial identity, commercial names, trade dressing and the commercial identity of the product.

"And one of the underlying factors is that each man must sell his product on his own aim and own identity. He cannot steal anybody else's identity. And, therefore, if you steal somebody else's identity and piggyback on it, it's a commercial theft," said Jaitley.

"Now, in India we have a very effective and robust trademark law in place, but the policy deals with a mechanism of trademark registration," he added.

The National IPR Policy recognises the abundance of creative and innovative energies that flow in India and the need to tap into and channelise these energies towards a better and brighter future for all.

The National IPR Policy is a vision document that aims to create and exploit synergies between all forms of intellectual property (IP), concerned statutes and agencies. It sets in place an institutional mechanism for implementation, monitoring and review. It aims to incorporate and adapt global best practices to the Indian scenario.

This policy shall weave in the strengths of the government, research and development organizations, educational institutions, corporate entities including MSMEs, start-ups and other stakeholders in the creation of an innovation-conducive environment, which stimulates creativity and innovation across sectors, as also facilitates a stable, transparent and service-oriented IPR administration in the country.

The policy recognizes that India has a well-established TRIPS-compliant legislative, administrative and judicial framework to safeguard IPRs, which meets its international obligations while utilizing the flexibilities provided in the international regime to address its developmental concerns. It reiterates India's commitment to the Doha Development Agenda and the TRIPS agreement.

While IPRs are becoming increasingly important in the global arena, there is a need to increase awareness on IPRs in India, be it regarding the IPRs owned by oneself or respect for others' IPRs.

The importance of IPRs as a marketable financial asset and economic tool also needs to be recognised. For this, domestic IP filings, as also commercialization of patents granted, need to increase. Innovation and sub-optimal spending on R&D too are issues to be addressed.

The broad contours of the National IPR Policy are as follows:

Vision Statement: An India where creativity and innovation are stimulated by Intellectual Property for the benefit of all; an India where intellectual property promotes advancement in science and technology, arts and culture, traditional knowledge and biodiversity resources; an India where knowledge is the main driver of development, and knowledge owned is transformed into knowledge shared.

The mission is to stimulate a dynamic, vibrant and balanced intellectual property rights system in India to foster creativity and innovation and thereby, promote entrepreneurship and enhance socio-economic and cultural development, and focus on enhancing access to healthcare, food security and environmental protection, among other sectors of vital social, economic and technological importance.

The policy lays down the following objectives:

· IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion - To create public awareness about the economic, social and cultural benefits of IPRs among all sections of society.

· Generation of IPRs - To stimulate the generation of IPRs.

· Legal and Legislative Framework - To have strong and effective IPR laws, which balance the interests of rights owners with larger public interest.

· Administration and Management - To modernize and strengthen service-oriented IPR administration.

· Commercialization of IPRs - Get value for IPRs through commercialization.

· Enforcement and Adjudication - To strengthen the enforcement and adjudicatory mechanisms for combating IPR infringements.

· Human Capital Development - To strengthen and expand human resources, institutions and capacities for teaching, training, research and skill building in IPRs.

These objectives are sought to be achieved through detailed action points. The action by different ministries/ departments shall be monitored by DIPP which shall be the nodal department to coordinate, guide and oversee implementation and future development of IPRs in India.

The National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy will endeavor for a "Creative India; Innovative India: ???????? ????; ????? ????".